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Explaining origins as the common people do it

Published 21 November 2018

From Peter Scott, Bolton, Lancashire, UK

Philip Ball says Stephen Hawking told us that God is all about explaining the origin of the universe and responds that no theologian ever did this (20 October, p 44). As a former Christian who regularly debates such things with theists, it seems to me that Ball is out of touch and struggling with the reality of at least part of the argument. Hawking is referring to common people's views.

Cosmological arguments for the existence of deities hold that whatever begins to exist has a cause; the universe began to exist, therefore the universe has a cause. Like other first-cause arguments, they are used by apologists around the world, of all theistic faiths. Many now quote the “Kalam cosmological argument” set out by William Lane Craig.

The person on the street will often say “How else have we got here?”. Ball isn't correct to refer the argument to theologians or to deny this is a cause of belief.